Saleh Ahmed, councilor of Sylhet City Corporation’s ward No 22, filed a case under Section 25 of the Digital Security Act against 18 people including reporters, the editor and publisher of Ekattorer Khota, a daily (online and print version) published from Sylhet after publication of reports about the activities of the councilor. We want to draw the attention of the policymakers of the government regarding the latest misuse of the much-hated act.
Like other democratic countries in the world, there was a time in Bangladesh when if any person or organisation was aggrieved about a new report, the person or the organisation would send a rejoinder to the concerned newspaper. They would not rush to the police station or the court to file cases. The concerned newspaper would take remedial measures. If the aggrieved persons were not pleased, they had scope to go to the press council. The press council would arrive at a decision hearing both the parties and analysing the published reports and the rejoinder. The press council would ask the newspaper to publish the statement of aggrieved person or organisation and would issued a warning if there was mistake. There was a practice of taking the responsible quarters to task if needed.
In the case statement, he alleged that the reports in Ekattorer Khota about him has disrupted the situation in the locality. He has been defamed by the reports which were also going viral in the social media including Facebook.
